


A Part of Me

by lokittysmaster



Category: One Piece
Genre: M/M, Soul Bond, Soulmate AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-05
Updated: 2015-02-27
Packaged: 2018-03-10 15:00:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3294716
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lokittysmaster/pseuds/lokittysmaster
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They said your soul can bind itself to another. It's very rare though, almost entirely unheard of.</p><p>When Luffy met the boy outside of Dadan's house he knew it was special and that he would be the most important person. Too bad the other boy didn't think so.</p><p>Ace spent so much time running away Luffy wondered if the light tugging in his chest to be close, safe, loved, was one sided.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Rough Start

**Author's Note:**

> Rating, Warnings, and Tags will change as this develops.

They said your soul could bind itself to another. It’s very rare, almost entirely unheard of, but the possibility was there. When Luffy met the boy outside of Dadan’s house he knew it was special, and that he would be the most important person. Too bad the other boy didn’t think so. Ace spent so much time running away that Luffy was forced to wonder if that light tug in his chest, the blissful feeling of close, safe, love was all one-sided.

Ace on the other hand knew exactly what Luffy was feeling, he could feel the very same thing mirrored in his chest. 

He knew exactly what it was too, having been told the same stories growing up. Ones of people so perfectly compatible that their very souls reached for one another. He just didn’t think that a little boy who was so energetic and full of life and love should be tied to someone like him. All the people in town would agree with him, stating constantly that the son of the Pirate King wouldn’t deserve any kind of happiness.

“Aceeeeeee!” The happy call followed him every single day. It was getting so much harder to ignore. There was always a tug in his chest, a feeling drawing him closer and closer to Luffy. Each day when he tried to get the boy away from him and he could feel the hurt in the boys chest, see the confused look on his face, hurt him more and more. He figured if he could get to Sabo and make a visit to the Gray Terminal it might make things better. If he could just get enough money to become a pirate he could save the younger boy from himself.

With the sheer persistence the boy had shown for weeks now Ace should have known it wouldn’t be that easy. Why would it possibly be that easy? When Luffy got involved in their operation, willingly or not, it made him a target. He should have just kept his mouth shut. Why on earth didn’t he just stay quiet? No, of course he had to go and say he knew Ace. He didn’t know any better.

Ace knew the minute Luffy had been taken, not only because he and Sabo were in the trees watching, but because he could feel the absolute terror in Luffy. But he could also feel the comfort he felt knowing that Ace would come for him. At that moment Ace knew he would. For better or worse he would come for that boy. He tried to play off his fear and unfathomable worry by pretending he was more focused on moving their treasures.  
And then Sabo came to tell him that Porchemy was the one in charge of interrogating Luffy. This was the absolute worst possible scenario. Porchemy was known for being absolutely ruthless, with no qualms about killing a child, innocent or not.

Ace knew the second Luffy realized what exactly he was up against. The fear in his chest grew 100 times worse. He couldn’t even breathe. And that’s when the pain started. He knew before Sabo came to tell him where they were keeping him, and he knew when it was getting really bad while they were making their plan. He could hardly focus on making the plan, so distracted by keeping tabs on Luffy. If he could feel the pain then Luffy was alive. That faint glimmer of hope kept him moving. He tried his best to send reassurances and his determination across the bond, not knowing if Luffy could feel it.

Breaking through the door was the easiest decision he’d ever made. All Ace wanted to do was beat that mother fucker’s face in for hurting his Luffy. So that’s exactly what he did. Just before leaving Ace leaned down and gave one final warning to Porchemy. “You touch him ever again and you’ll wish I’d killed you today.”

Sabo turned around upon hearing this and narrowed his eyes in understanding. “Ace. Let’s go. Luffy needs help.”

Those words were the only thing that seemed to break his trance. Running over to Sabo he demanded to hold Luffy.

“He’s yours isn’t he?” Sabo phrased it like a question but they both knew it wasn’t.

“Yes.” With that single admission Ace accepted that there was no changing it now. Luffy would be his until the day he died.

There was a long period of silence, only broken by the laboured breathing from Luffy. Then, a single choked out sentence. “Thank you for coming to get me.”

“Don’t be stupid Lu. How could I leave you there?” Ace whispered, verging on tears that Luffy would even consider they’d leave him to die for them. Obviously he’d fucked up completely in his attempt to keep Luffy safe away from him.

A small whisper made Ace pause in his attempt to get them as far away from the little cabin as they could get. “Can you feel it too? The feeling everyone talks about.”

“Yes.” The single broken admission was enough to make Luffy relax.

“I knew it wasn’t just me. You’re not going to leave me behind anymore are you?”

“No. No I’m not. Rest now. You did great today. We’ll get you back to Dadan’s and get you all healed up okay?”  
Humming in affirmation Luffy closed his eyes and let himself be carried away.


	2. Chapter 2

After that things were easier for a while. Luffy could feel the bond more clearly than ever before now that Ace had stopped running. He made sure to send small bursts of affection and trust through when it started to feel even slightly shaky, smiling widely when there was some returned. It became a bit of a game for Luffy because when he did it by surprise it always made Ace blush and stutter a little if he was speaking.

Everything had been fine until the boys decided to make a trip into the city. After selling their crocodile skin, Luffy complained of hunger. Ace could feel it, more strongly than his own. He made the suggestion for Ramen. Walking into the restaurant hadn’t been a problem, but then the man looked them up and down, and declared they wouldn’t be fed here. Ace felt a huge burst of fear and more hunger from Luffy.

Then Sabo shifted around and held something out for the man to see. Ace was shocked when he said something about a Noble coming in. A Noble? What the hell had Sabo shown him? The only comment he could think to make was, “Useful thing you have there, Sabo.”

Being shown into the room was surreal, it was absolutely stunning in a way none of the boys had seen before. When the ramen finally came Luffy and Sabo’s excitement was palpable. The boys had no concerns about scarfing down as much ramen as they could, in as little time as physically possible, only really stopping for refills. When the lady came in too soon however, things went downhill quickly. Luffy got too excited, and reached back with his arms out of habit. The woman obviously wasn’t used to arms coming at her when the body they were coming from was across the room, most people weren’t. So when she went running like a bat out of hell they knew it was time to run. Ace got a huge wave of regret from Luffy, but he wasn’t sure if it was because of the fact that they had to run, or that they had to leave the food behind. Regardless of the cause he pushed back a reassurance, and ran a little faster. 

When the strange man called out for Sabo both boys were filled with fear. Most of the time when random men approached them it was for things like a fight. The man didn’t necessarily look like much but seeing Sabo tense up the way he did gave them pause. They just did their best to run faster and not get caught. As soon as they were safe however Ace demanded an answer.

After a long conversation of Sabo avoiding the questions as much as possible he finally gave them the answer they’d been looking for. “That man was my father” Sabo stared at the ground for a long time.  
Then, before he can lose his courage he tells his brothers about his life before Ace found him in the Grey Terminal, about how his parents had basically shoved him aside, hoping only for money. He told them about how he’d run from home because he didn’t want to live that life for them, because no matter what they said his happiness was not their happiness. “Even with my parents, I’m alone.”

Pushing down most of his emotions, Ace comforted Luffy who was feeling heartbroken and untrustworthy. However, Ace knew more than most what it was like to be ashamed of your parents. He felt a wave of shame when he was reminded that Luffy still didn’t know who his father was.

Unfortunately for Ace that would change soon as well. When they met Naguri, an old man who lived in the Gray Terminal. The boys had been trying to lure out the massive tiger in an attempt to discover who would be the captain between them, instead they’d managed to get the attention of a giant bear. They decided -based on Ace’s logic that it was probably just as tough as the tiger- to attack it.

When Ace hit it on the head they assumed it would be disoriented and were shocked when all that seemed to happen was that it got angrier and came after them again. They’d run as fast as they could away from it until they hit another clearing.

Then an old man came out of nowhere. He didn’t even seem concerned about the 1,000 pound bear barreling toward him. Luffy yelled at him to watch out while Ace and Sabo were pretty much just frozen to the spot. However it was unwarranted, as soon as the animal was close enough he turned to face it. 

With an unseen force he calmly asked “this isn’t your den is it? Leave.” And to everyone’s shock, after a moment’s hesitation it did, moving its way back into the forest.

Luffy was beside himself with excitement. “You’re just like Shanks!” The comment got the man’s attention and the next thing they knew, they were roasting the fish and talking. It was going perfectly well until he mentioned he used to be a pirate. The comment immediately caught Luffy’s interest and it only got worse from there. Someone asked “how did you wind up here then?”

The answer made Ace freeze where he stood. “I lost a fight with Gold Roger, after that my crew and I went our different ways and I came here.” Pushing down his uncontrollable rage that welled up whenever his father was mentioned, and ignoring how excited Luffy was, Ace walked away. After wandering around for a while he found himself standing in the clubhouse.

Sometime later he could hear Sabo and Luffy coming back. Now that he wasn’t consciously thinking of it he could feel Luffy’s excitement again, mixed in with curiosity and agitation. When they finally made it through the door the first thing Luffy said was “Ace! Roger is your father?” This time he couldn’t control himself. Ignoring Sabo’s outburst of “Luffy what did I tell you!”

Ace hit them both. “Don’t mention that again!”

“Why did you hit me too!?” Sabo exclaimed clutching his head.

“You told him.” Ace was shaking with anger, flinching internally when he felt Luffy’s hurt. He couldn’t help it though. After an entire childhood of hearing how awful his father was, and being told that he should die because of him, he couldn’t stand hearing about him. He could stand even less being asked about it. “Just don’t okay?”

Both boys nodded and dropped the subject. The next day Luffy left to train with Naguri and it was forgotten for a bit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come give me feedback or tell me to hurry with the writing.  
> I'm trying my best to update this every 2 weeks or so.  
> Also a huge thanks to my beta isillome.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm firefoxsabo on Tumblr.


End file.
